Rugby league’s World Club Challenge will return to Australia in 2018 and revert to a one-match format, with National Rugby League (NRL) champion Melbourne Storm to play host to English Super League victor Leeds Rhinos.

The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) has today (Wednesday) hit back at calls for chairman Cameron Clyne to resign over the decision to axe Western Force from the Super Rugby club competition, denying claims that he had lied about the reasons behind the move.

RugbyWA, the governing body of the sport in Western Australia, has agreed to drop its legal action against the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) over the fate of Super Rugby franchise Western Force in favour of pursuing arbitration proceedings.

Organisers of this year’s Rugby League World Cup are being faced with the prospect of losing a host of star players from the national team tournament amid a dispute between Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) and the Rugby League Players Association (RLPA).

The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) has acquired the intellectual property rights of Perth-based Super Rugby franchise Western Force, while the national governing body has also announced the launch of a new U20 event to run alongside the pan-regional competition.

Rugby league’s World Club Challenge will return to Australia in 2018 and revert to a one-match format, with National Rugby League (NRL) champion Melbourne Storm to play host to English Super League victor Leeds Rhinos.

The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) has today (Wednesday) hit back at calls for chairman Cameron Clyne to resign over the decision to axe Western Force from the Super Rugby club competition, denying claims that he had lied about the reasons behind the move.